Power companies can seize private land for AI data centers as 70% of Americans oppose construction

Power Companies Turn to Eminent Domain for AI Infrastructure Development

Power companies can seize private land to build transmission lines for AI data centers, even when landowners refuse to sell, according to a report by Aaron Walayat, Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Dayton2

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. The companies are invoking eminent domain, the government's legal authority to take private property for public use in exchange for just compensation under the Fifth Amendment1

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. This power, traditionally reserved for critical infrastructure projects, can be delegated to private entities or common carriers such as utility companies3

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The AI boom has triggered a data center building surge across the United States, with more than 3,000 facilities already operational and another 1,500 in development, according to Pew Research Center analysis2

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. These facilities accounted for more than 4% of the nation's total electricity use in 2024, with demand expected to grow substantially3

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. To meet this surging demand, power companies must build more power transmission lines, which often require crossing private land. When landowners refuse to sell, companies are turning to eminent domain as a last resort for land acquisition for data centers4

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Public Opposition to Data Centers Reaches 70%

Polling reveals that 7 in 10 Americans oppose the construction of AI data centers in their communities, citing concerns about higher utility bills, pollution, noise, loss of green space, and the environmental impact of massive water and electricity consumption2

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. This public opposition to data centers has already resulted in tangible resistance. Opponents successfully blocked 75 planned data center projects in the first quarter of 2026, including the cancellation of the 2,100-acre Digital Gateway project over a newspaper-notice technicality1

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Landowners in states such as Georgia and Pennsylvania have faced pressure from power companies seeking to seize private land for transmission lines2

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. In Maryland, some property owners have erected signs declaring "No eminent domain for corporate gain," reflecting growing frustration with what many perceive as government overreach benefiting wealthy AI companies without providing tangible benefits to average Americans4

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. Senator Bernie Sanders has proposed an AI sovereign wealth fund that would require AI companies to offer up 50% of their stock to fund projects benefiting Americans4

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The Public Use Requirement and Legal Challenges

The authority to seize private land for transmission lines is not absolute. Power companies must prove that the infrastructure serves a public use requirement, and several states reserve the right to interpret eminent domain laws according to their own constitutions1

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. The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the "public use" standard permissively, most notably in the 2005 Kelo decision, which allowed New London, Connecticut, to seize homes for private development around a Pfizer facility on economic development grounds3

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. However, that redevelopment never materialized, and Pfizer eventually left New London.

Following the Kelo decision and subsequent public backlash, 45 states enacted eminent domain reform laws, and some state supreme courts now interpret state-level laws more restrictively2

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. The supreme courts of Michigan, Ohio, and Oklahoma have prohibited seizing private property to transfer it to another private party purely for economic development3

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. Legal challenges to seizures for transmission lines have produced mixed results. South Dakota and Vermont supreme courts have affirmed seizures by power companies, determining that improved power grid reliability for in-state customers constituted valid public uses2

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. Conversely, the Mississippi Supreme Court in 1984 rejected a condemnation action because the transmission line would have run from Mississippi into Louisiana without benefiting any Mississippi customers3

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What This Means for AI Data Centers and Future Expansion

President Donald Trump has promoted AI advancement as crucial to economic and national security, drawing parallels to the patriotic tone used during the Cold War construction of Minuteman nuclear missile silos4

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. This rhetoric positions AI infrastructure development as essential to national interests, potentially strengthening the case for eminent domain use. Meanwhile, some projects continue to advance. Meta recently announced plans to expand its Hyperion AI supercluster from 2 GW to 5 GW, a facility expected to consume three times the power used by New Orleans1

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As AI data centers enter the gigawatt era, the tension between technological advancement and property rights will likely intensify. Landowners may find more success challenging condemnation actions under state constitutions than in federal court, particularly in states with restrictive interpretations of eminent domain2

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. The coming months will test whether arguments around grid reliability and national security can overcome mounting public resistance, or whether state-level protections will provide meaningful barriers to land seizures for AI infrastructure.